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Friday, February 14, 2014

There was a time when absolutely all babies used to sleep on
their backs. The practice of placing babies on their backs started most likely
at the time when people did not know how to write. It was a tradition. Why do
traditions exist? Apparently only for one reason: to change them. Placing
babies to sleep on the back did not escape the challenge of time and several
decades ago someone decided that the best position for babies to sleep was on
their bellies. That was a change, revolutionary in its courage and boldness,
not as revolutionary as the polio vaccine, but still, it was something.

It turned out that our grandparents, and great grandparents,
and before them Moses, and before him Sarah and Abraham were correct placing their
babies on the backs. May be they have known something we discovered not so long
ago - that belly sleeping was often responsible for sudden infant death. Following
this re-discovery “back to sleep” campaign was started and in a mere decade it
almost succeeded. Now days most nurses and doctors do their best trying to change
bad habits of their patient’s parents. Not all nurses and doctors succumbed to
changing their views, because bad habits tend to be very resilient. This
resistance to change is reinforced by discovery of a “new” disease called
“’plagiocephaly”.

Plagiocephaly is the molding of baby’s naturally soft skull
caused by pressure of sleeping in one position. Since “back to sleep” campaign
required placing babies on their backs, many babies developed flattened backs
of their heads. This new disease epidemic caused enormous alarm among
pediatricians. A new industry sprang up to deal with it and a score of
companies began manufacturing helmets to treat plagiocephaly.

If the same pediatricians asked their grandmothers, or
opened old, really old, text book written while then their grandparents were
young they could have made an astonishing discovery that plagiocephaly is as
old as the world, that head deformities go away once babies begin to roll and
to sit and that using helmets is a waste of money and it works as well as time
itself.

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About Sergei Shushunov, MD

Sergei Shushunov MD, is a critical care pediatrician also trained in medical acupuncture and pharmacognosy. Sergei held academic appointments at Universities of Kansas and Illinois. During the past few years he has been working on new Therapeutic Temperature Management System for body temperature control. Sergei developed and patented several natural remedies for children's most common condition such as colic, diarrhea, earache etc. He has a company which manufactures children's products under the brand name "4healthykids".

Sergei's interestsinclude hunting, sailing, literature, theater, art galleries, kayaking. His love for hunting and sailing took him to the most unusual and remote destinations on several continents. Sergei is not a trophy hunter and he looks at hunting as an opportunity to experience different cultures.

He tries to visit art galleries in every city he travels to. He goes to theaters often, relying on his wife's exceptional ability to pick good productions

Sergei's most favorite physical activity is kayaking on lake Michigan.